SmackDown recap & reactions: QB Unhinged
We didn’t have to wait long to see Cody Rhodes on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, as the WWE champion opened the evening to address his match against Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel. He said the world heavyweight champion split himself to the bone in order to defeat him, and while he doesn’t believe they need to ever step foot in the ring across from each other again, that’s not how these things work. But he does have plenty of business to attend to on his home show, and so does Cody on his.
That being Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu in a number one contender’s match. He was excited about it, and they revealed the winner would get the match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in two weeks.
It wasn’t long before Fatu ran into Rhodes backstage and welcomed him to the Shark Tank, the Bay Area, his home area. The crowd was eating up everything he was saying, riding with him the whole way.
All gas, no brakes with it.
Rhodes welcomed the challenge.
Later still, just as we were about to get to Fatu vs. McIntyre, they showed the former laid out, blood everywhere. McIntyre demanded to be named number one contender, and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis pushed back because, well, yeah, obviously it was DM Hunk who left Fatu in a pool of his own blood.
Instead, Corporate Cody, as Drew calls him, rushed out, completely usurped Aldis’ authority, and said let’s just have a title match right now before kicking off a huge brawl all around the arena.
“That’s why he’s our quarterback,” proclaimed Vic Joseph on commentary.
Eventually, they made it to the ring and they actually rang the bell, Rhodes still wearing his dress pants. You’ll never guess how the match ended, though.
That’s right — Rhodes used the belt as a weapon and got himself disqualified. He retains the title, even while losing the match. The fans booed, because the finish sucked, but they didn’t end the show there. Instead, Rhodes set up the announcer’s desk, with Graves pleading with him not to go this far. He never actually got to deliver on a Cross Rhodes because Aldis had a bunch of WWE personnel show up to drag McIntyre away. The champ responded to this by rushing to the top rope and diving onto the entire group, the top contender in the middle of it all.
That’s how they ended the show instead, dragging McIntyre away while Rhodes angrily screamed at him.
The Miz was going to be the guy to answer Sami Zayn’s United States championship open challenge this week but Carmelo Hayes returned the favor and kept him from doing so. That story will continue, maybe forever at this rate.
It worked out rather well for us all, because none other than Ilja Dragunov stepped in to fill the void, making his long awaited return to television. He clearly spent his time away in the weight room, not to mention in a tattoo artist’s chair getting some fresh new ink on his neck.
He looks downright dangerous.
He is downright dangerous.
You won’t be surprised to read Dragunov looked like he hadn’t missed a single day, and they absolutely tore the house down in an unreal back-and-forth slugfest.
There was a bit of outside interference, in the sense that Solo Sikoa walked out and distracted Zayn briefly. However, he was able to quickly recover and avoid Dragunov’s next attack. It was just after, however, that Ilja hit the H-Bomb and that did the trick.
We’ve got a new U.S. champion.
It’s worth pointing out, Corey Graves on commentary pushed hard that Solo’s appearance absolutely affected the outcome of the match and therefore it wasn’t exactly an entirely clean loss for Zayn, which means it wasn’t as big of a win as it could have been for Dragunov. But it didn’t feel that way watching it live as a fan.
After, when the two babyfaces were about to shake hands, the MFTs hit the ring to lay them both out. This after they had already put Rey Fenix down backstage for doing a photoshoot near them while they were walking.
Credit where it’s due, they’re trying to get this group over as a significant threat on the blue brand and this is the way to do that. Solo promised to make the family tree champions once more, and that’s when The Wyatt Sicks cut in. At some point, we’re going to get some kind of something with these two groups but something is missing for me in all this.
I’m not even sure what it is either. Anyone else feel that way?
- Blake Monroe got some face time on this show, hanging out in the crowd during Sol Ruca & Zaria’s tag team title match against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss. They showed out with a pretty damn good match, all things considered, but it ended up being more of a way to further Ruca’s issue with Monroe than putting over the champs. They did go over, though, and the Sol Snatcher really does look like a main event finish for someone who should be a future star there.
- Aleister Black and Zelina Vega got a pre-tape promo where they revealed the two coming together was always the plan, and they are a necessary evil. The future looks dark indeed.
- Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton said her loss to Stephanie Vaquer is just one loss that doesn’t define her. Instead, she’s just focusing on what is next. That’s when Kiana James came out talking trash, and they set up a match for next week. WWE attempted to keep her as strong as possible by reminding us right after that Stratton is 17-1 in 2025. I’m less concerned with that and much more concerned with her getting an actual story to dig her teeth into.
- The Motor City Machine Guns were going to celebrate a year in WWE when Los Garza showed up to make fun of them. That’s all it took to get a match made, and the Guns entertained on their way to a solid victory. DIY and Fraxiom argued backstage after the fact, going back-and-forth and setting up a match of their own. Sure.
The Dragunov return and title win saved this one.